Car or other seat



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. S. HALE.

GAR OR OTHER SEAT. V N0..417,823. Patented Dec. 24, 1889.

N. PEYERS. Pholo-Lnhogrzphnr. Washington. D. C.

2 sheets-sum 2.

(No Model.)

' H S HALE CAR OR OTHER SEAT.

No. 417,823. Patented Dec. 24,1889.

Wimesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY S. HALE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR OR OTHER SEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,823, dated December24, 1889.

Application filed September 12, 1888. Serial No. 285,187. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, HENRY S. HALE, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement inCar or other Seats, (Case 13,) of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has reference to car or other seats; and it consists incertain improvem ents, all of which are fully setforth in the followingspecification and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form partthereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a more suitable construction,whereby there are no projections or other objectionable obstructionsupon the seat-arms upon which to catch and tear the clothes.

My object is also to provide amore perfect means of guiding andsupporting the hingearms upon which the back is pivoted, and to givethem a provision for variable throw to vary the adjustment of theseat-back.

My object is also to provide a durable connection between the twohinge-arms, whereby they move as a rigid structure.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to adapt it to car-seats havingnot only reversible backs, but also provided with shifting and tiltingseat-cushions. However, this latter is not necessary to-my presentinvention. The main frame, at one or both ends, is provided with anarm-rest, furnished, preferably,

upon its under side with a continuous guide,

into which a projection from the hinge-arm extends, and by which it isguided throughout the entire throw and prevented from rubbing againstthe woodwork of the seat-arm. The ends of this guide maybe provided withone or more stops, on which suitable springcatches carried by thehinge-arm may catch to hold the hinge-arms in different adjustments,andbysuit-ablemechanism said catches at both ends of the seat maybesimultaneously operated from either end. These spring-catches may belocked by suitable locks carried by the hingearms, so as to prevent theseat-back being reversed without first operating the lock. I alsoconnect the two pivothinged clearly shown in the drawings and fullydescribed hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved seat. Fig.2 is asectional elevation of same on line pg of Fig. Fig. 3 is a frontelevation of my improved seat, with one-half in section on line so a: ofFig. 2. Fig.

hinge-arms, their connections, and catch-operating device. Fig. 5 is asectional elevation of the lower part of the seat on line x m of Fig. 2,but with the hinge-arm raised to a vertical position. Fig. 6 is asectional view through the hinge-arm, arm-rest, and guide, showingasuitable lock for securing the catch against movement. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the locking-bolt removed; and Fig.8 is a perspectiveview of the lower end of one of the hinge-arms, showing the means forclamping the connecting-bar.

A is the main frame, having the legs D extending down to the fioor andformed at the upper part into the frames D, to which the hinge-arms arepivoted at c. The said frames D are also provided with the guides Gr,upon which the seat-supporting frames II rest and are shifted. The underor cam surfaces I of the frames l-l insure the tilting of the seatduring the act of shifting.

F is the seat-cushion, which rests upon the frames H.

(l are the hingearms, pivoted, as before stated, to the frames D at c,and connected at their lower parts below the said fulcrum points 0 withthe frames H by pins h. The upper ends of these hinge-arms are'pivotedto the seat-back B at b in any suitable manner. The lower ends of thehinge-arms are rigidly connected by a bar P, made rectangular incross-section and received in sockets P, and clamped on its ends by capsP and clamping screws or bolts 1), as clearly shown in Figs. l and 8. Bythis construction both hinge-arms are required to move together, andmuch binding and jarring are obviated.

The frame A is provided with fixed armrests E, which are preferablycurved upon their under side and provided with a metallic continuousguide 6 set therein, as shown in Figs. 2 and (5, into which theprojections 4 is a skeleton perspective view showing the c from thehinge-arms extend and guide the said hinge-arms, preventing lateralmovement and wear upon the arm-rests. By this construction it is evidentthat there are no projections or other obstructions upon the arm-restupon which to catch the clothes or strike the arms. It is preferablethat this guide 6 be made curved, as shown in Fig. 2, using c as thecenter, and I prefer to provide each end of the guide with stops 2-,against which or between which a suitable springcatch J, carried by thehinge-arms, may work, to control the adjustment of the seat-back. Thecatch J is clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 6, and extends down so as tobe guided upon the fulcrum c of the hinge-arm, its lower extremity beingprovided with a lug J. This lug is received in a curved slot L of theleverframe K, which is held up toward the fulcrum c by a lever M, havinga cross-head at the top m, resting under said lever-frame K, and aspring N, arranged in the frame A and adapted to press upon the underside of the cross-head, to move the lever H upward. The action of theseparts is to thrust the catch J upward, causing its end j to catch uponthe stops 6. The curved groove Lallows the hinge arms to be shifted inreversing the seat-back without displacing the connection between thecatch J and the lever-frame K. The lever frame K is held up against theupper flange of the frame D, through which it has two projections 716,one upon either side of the fulcrum c. The function of these projectionsis to provide means for the occupant to depress the lever-frame Kagainst the action of the spring N and withdraw the catch J from theprojection e, and it is evident that one of such projections at each endof the seat will be in easy reach of the occupant for each reversedposition of the seat-back. There is a similar spring-catch device uponeach end of the seat, and such spring-catches may be operated fromeither end of the seat by simply connecting the levers M by means of abar 0, extending thelength of the seat.

Referring to Fi 6,1 have shown a form of lock which may be employed toprevent the reversal of the seat, if desired. In this construction Rrepresents the .lockin g device car'- ried by the hinge-arms G. S is thelockingbolt, which is adapted to snap into a recess 3 in the catch J,and is operated through the mediation of a spring Q. In the socket ofthe lock are two parallel ribs 1, upon which the bolt S is guided. Thebolt S is provided with a flange having notches T, for receiving theguide-ribs t, and said bolt maybe drawn back by the insertion of the keyuntil it leaves the guide-ribs, and then by turning its flanges willrest against the said ribs and the bolt will be thrown out of action.Any other form of locking device may be employed, if desired.

I do not limit myself to the mere details of construction, as it isevident that they may be modified and varied to suit the ideas of thedesigner; but the principles of construction would remain the same.While I have shown a complete seat with both ends exactly alike, it isevident that one end may be constructed against the car-wall, as iscustomary, and in that case the guide 6 may be bolted to the said wallsin place of the arm-rests.

Car-seats of this nature can readily be made in pairs, each havingindependentlyoperated backs and seat-cushions, so as to be separatelyadj usted and with capacity to form what are known as tete-a-tte chairs,which are simply two such seats as here shown arranged side by side.

In this application I do not claim, broadly, the hinge-arm andlocking-bolt carried wholly thereby to engage a groove in the seat-arm,nor the hinge-arm having a lug thereon to engage a continuous groove inthe seat-arm to prevent lateral play of the back, as these features arethe subject-matter of my application, Serial No. 286,395, wherein theyare broadly claimed.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main frame, areversible seatback independent of the seat-cushion, two

hinge-arms pivoted to the main frame and permanently connected at theirupper ends to the seat-back, stationary or fixed arms secured to themain frame and provided with a continuous guide having stops to limitthe throw of the hinge-arms, catches to secure said hinge-arms to saidstops, a lock to prevent said catches being operated, and a slidingconnection between the hinge-arms and guides.

2. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main framehaving an arm formed with a continuous curved guide for the hingearmconnected to the main frame below the guide, a pivoted hinge-arm forsupporting the seat-back at its middle by a permanent 1 pivotalconnection and, guided in said armguide, and a hand-operated lockingdevice extending to the pivot of the hinge-arm with the main frame tosecure said hinge-arm rigidly at each end of the guide.

3. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main framehaving an arm formed with a continuous guide for the hinge-arm, havingtwo or more stops at each end, a pivoted hinge-armforsupportingtheseat-back,-guided in said arm-guide, a spring-catch carried by thehinge-arm to catch upon said stops to support the hinge-arm in differentpositions, and a locking device carried by hingerarm and acting upon thespring-catch to hold it rigidly against movement on the hinge-arm andthereby to secure said hinge-arm rigidly at each end of the guide.

4. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main framehaving an arm-restprovided with a continuous guide, a reversibleseat-back reversible on its hinge-arms, a

'of the seat for operating said spring-catch.

5. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main frame, areversible seat-back independent of the seat-cushion, the hingearmspivoted to the main frame and permanently connected at their upper endsto theseat-back, stationary or fixed arms secured to the main frame andprovided with a continuous guide having stops to limit the throw of thehinge-arms, hand-operated catches having fixedly-located hand-operatingpieces to secure said hinge-arms to said stops, and a sliding connectionbetween the hinge-arms and guides.

6. In a car or other seat, the combination of the main frame, areversible seat-back, two hinge-arms pivoted to the back and also themain frame, and having extensions below their pivotal connections withthe main frame and terminating in a socket I a connectingbar P betweenthe two hinge-bars, made rectangular in cross-section, caps P andclamping bolts or screws 19 for clamping said bars in the sockets ateach end.

'7. In a car or other seat, the combination of the rigid main frame, areversible seat-back, two hinge-arms having their ends respectivelypivoted to the main frame and back at its middle, stop mechanism,substantially as described, carried by the arm-rests of the main frameand hinge-arms for supporting each of the hinge-arms, and thereby holdthe seatback in difierent positions in each of its re 40- versals, ahand-lever supported by the main frame at each end of the seat tooperate the stop mechanisms, and positive connections extending from oneend of the seat to the other to operate the stop mechanism at each endfrom either end.

S. In a car or other seat, the combination of the main f "ame,hinge-arms pivoted at one end to the main frame and at the other to themiddle of the seat-back, and seat-back with spring-catches carried bythe hinge-"arms, and stops on the arms of the main frame to sup portsaid hinge-arms at different adjustments, said spring-catches extendingdown to or near the fulcrum of the hinge-arms and having a projection J,a lever-frame K, having groove or slot L for receiving the projection Jand projections 70 to operate it, the pivoted lever M, pressing upwardagainst the lever-frame K, and the spring N for operating said lever M,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. In a car or other seat, the combination of the main or stationaryframe-Work, a reversible seat-back independent of the seat-cushion,hinge-arms pivoted to the main frame and to the middle of the seat-back,and a movable locking-bolt movable longitudinally upon and carried bythe hinge-arm to lock it to the main frame-work.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

HENRY S. I-IALE. IVitnesses:

J. WARREN HALE, JNo. B. KILBURN.

